To the Moon – review

Saturday 7 July 2012 19.04 EDT
First published on Saturday 7 July 2012 19.04 EDT

An old man named Johnny lies dying. His last wish, for reasons unknown, is to visit the moon. Playing as two doctors from the mysterious Sigmund Corporation, you enter his mind and wander through his thoughts, uncovering the secrets of his life and, eventually, implanting and strengthening his desire to make a lunar voyage. It's a concept fans of the movie Inception will be familiar with, but here the focus is on character rather than spectacle, and the game is filled with themes of regret, love and loss.

Gameplay, such as it is, is a relatively simplistic hunt for artefacts in order to facilitate leaps further back into Johnny's memory. Prior to leaping you need to complete a puzzle that involves flipping tiles on an image to reveal the full item beneath. There's not a great deal to it, but the real hook of the game is its emotional story which, revealed in reverse chronological order, has a weight and poignancy that competes favourably with contemporary counterparts on screen or page.

Presented in charming SNES-era sprites, with a gorgeously evocative score that channels the melancholy and sadness haunting the narrative, this retail reissue of last year's indie smash marks a stunning achievement in gaming and is nothing less than a work of art.